What is Supported Living?

Supported Living is the term given by Local Authorities to encompass a range of services designed to help disabled citizens retain their independance in their local community.
Previously, housing and support were usually provided by a charity or local council. Now mentally and physically disabled persons can live in their own home and have personal support provided by another organisation or a paid visiting or live-in carer.

People in supported living get to make their own decisions about how they want to live and get help with managing their home. Some of the benefits of supported living would include:

• It provides a proper home for people to live in.

• It offers more choice for people.

• It gives people more responsibility to live independently.

• It can be matched more closely to what people need.

• It uses local housing and services so people can live close to their family and friends.

Supported living enables people with learning disabilities to live in their own homes as an alternative to shared residential care. Some individuals, including those with the most complex needs, have been successfully supported in their own homes, using detailed planning and focused personal assistance.

Supported living has opened up access to a much wider range of housing options for some people with learning disabilities, including ‘general needs’ social housing and even homeownership.

Supported Living is supported care and not a care service. Other options: